The genus Asarum are primarily late winter flowering woodland perennials in the pipevine (Aristolochiaceae) family, that have long been a focus of our collection efforts. Asarum includes the former genus, Hexastylis, that Southeast US botanists still struggle emotionally to give up. We trim the previous years foliage away as the flowers emerge, so we can
Gingers are Ready and Willing Read More »
In flower now, is our specimen of Distylium racemosum ‘Akebono’. While Distylium is quite popular now, compared to decades earlier, many of the specialty variegated cultivars are still little known. The word Akebono is Japanese for the color of the sky at dawn. It is commonly used in Japan to name plants with a bright
Akebono…no relation to Sonny Read More »
Our oldest patch of Adonis amurensis ‘Fukujukai’ is now 18 years old and looking lovely in the winter garden this week. This a cold climate plant from The Russian Far East, Korea, and into Northern Japan, so it generally doesn’t love the hot, humid south, but this is one of a few clones that have
Astonishing Adonis in the Garden Read More »
Flowering now in the garden is the Japanese wild ginger, Asarum fudsinoi. The glossy foliage on this 15″ wide clumper makes it one of the largest of the Japanese native Asarum species. Because of its tropical roots from the Southern Ryukyu Island, Amami-Oshimi (just south of Okinawa), it’s used to flowering quite early in the
Addition by Subduction Read More »
Pieris, a member of the Ericaceae family, have long been a shrub we love, but not one that has thrived in our sandy loam soils, and coastal climate. One cultivar of the popular Pieris japonica, which has thrived here is Pieris japonica ‘Dorothy Wyckoff’. This Pieris, was introduced in 1960 by the internationally acclaimed Henry
Pieris ‘Dorothy Wyckoff’ Read More »
Anyone who has visited JLBG knows that we are passionate about the genus Aucuba, which is one of the finest woody evergreens for shade. The forms, sizes, and leaf patterns are incredibly diverse. Here are a couple of our brightest spotted clones, Aucuba japonica ‘Lemon Flare’ and ‘Merced’. If you live in Zone 7, and
Cryptomeria japonica ‘Araucaroides’ is looking nice now, but what does the name mean. Let’s start with first of the trinomial (three) parts of the name, Cryptomeria. It seems obvious that this probably should be a word used to describe people who purchased lots of Bitcoin before the recent rise. In reality, the word means “hidden
Looks like an Araucaria, but… Read More »
Looking lovely in December are the Japanese Laurels of the genus, Aucuba. If you’ve hung around any southern gardeners, you already know that we often have some peculiar pronunciations. I’m from the south and still remember thinking, whaaat, the first time I heard someone talking about the A Coobers in their garden. Perhaps many folks
You’d need to be a pretty serious plant nerd to grow members of the obscure evergreen genus, Eurya, in your garden. Of the 160 species in the genus, we’ve tried four, which is possibly some sort of record. Eurya‘s family, Pentaphyllaceae, tells us that it has some other better known relatives, such as Ternstroemia and
Flowering in November is the lovely evergreen shrub, Fatsia japonica ‘Variegata’. If you look closer at the second image, you’ll find that it’s a feast for a range of native insects. Hardiness zone 7b to 10b.
Finding a Fall Fatsia Feast Read More »
